Alcohol

The prohibition of alcohol is questioned in the minds of many people.  Unfortunately, many youths, high school students, college students, and other adults enjoy the short term benefit of alcohol to justify their intake.

Those of use who only know to stay away from drinking alcohol should now know why.  Let us take a look at this medically.  A doctor was asked questions, and he answered accordingly.

Q:  Doctor, can alcohol keep help to increase appetite?  A:  Alcohol is not a presecribed appetizer and could cause acidity, ulcers, vomitting of blood n the long run.  Lack of appetite should be checked and treated by a doctor.  Alcohol is not a known apetite stimulant.

Q:  Can alcohol help to sleep well?

A:  A reasonably healthy human being does not need any substance to sleep.  Insomnia (lack of sleep) can be transient due to a mild stress and would get solved by itself in due course of time.  Alcohol should not be used as a crutch.  Severe Insomnia should be treated by a dcotor.  Also Alcohol is not a prescribed sedative.  However it does help to sleep through various mechanisms, one of them being decreasing anxiety.

Q:  Does Alcohol improve confidence before activities?  A:  Alcohol could allay anxiety temporarily but it is not a confidence booster and might interfere with performances.

Q:  It is necessary to drink alcohol after a hard days labor?

A:  Absolutely no.  It is better to drink half a glass of milk after a hard days labor.

The World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) had reacted to claims that moderate  drinking may be good for health, with a stern reminder that alcohol consumption causes some of the world’s most serious health problems.

“There is no minimum threshold below which alcohol can be consumed without any risk,” says Dr. Hans Embald, director for the WHO program on substance abuse.

Recent campaigns which emphasise possible health benefits such as the prevention of heart disease - are “not based on rigorous scientific research” and are “to a large extent inspired by commercial purposes”.

“Alcohol is the second largest killer after tobacco, and is the cause of more deaths that are illegal drugs put together,” Embald said.

“Alcohol produces dependence, causes cancers and chronic liver diseases and can contribute to accidents and to social problems that may result in violence or crime,” the WHO statement says.  Promoting its moderate use for health reasons is “insufficient and unwise.”

Relating this topic to Islam, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “After the divine ban on liquor through my word, it is not permissible to enter into matrimonial relations with one, who drinks liquor, or to credit his statement, or to accept any testimony of him, or to entrust him with any charge under an impression of his integrity, for then God will not gaurantee his faith nor recompense any one for it.”

Thus alcohol is a poison and its evil effects are so great that every courageous man and woman should help to eliminate its use within the society.

References:

Dr. Abbas M. Vakil. Ja’fari Magazine. Alcohol. Vol. 7, No.1

Islam and Medicine.  Ja’fari Magazine.  Vol. 7, No. 1